Usually yes for the asset concerned, unless the will makes a valid later declaration. This is a technical area — take advice.
The Canadian position
Usually yes for the asset concerned, unless the will makes a valid later declaration. This is a technical area — take advice.
Provincial law governs the detail, so confirm the position where the estate will be administered.
The Islamic position
The fixed shares apply to the net estate after funeral expenses, debts and any bequest capped at one third.
Where a Canadian instrument has no classical counterpart, treat it as a contemporary question for a qualified scholar.
RRSPs, TFSAs, joint tenancy and beneficiary designations are all newer than the four schools, so this is not a madhhab difference and we have built no four-school table for it. What the schools do agree is the test: the tarikah is what the deceased owned at the moment of death, not how the asset moved afterwards. Applying that test to Canadian instruments is a present-day question, and named bodies reach opposite results — AMJA and Qatar’s Islamweb keep an earned plan in the estate; Singapore’s MUIS treats a nomination as a completed lifetime gift. No source on either side reasons from probate.
No school ruled on this instrument; named present-day bodies differ. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Assets that pass outside the estate — are they part of the tarikah?.
Related madhhab issue: Do life insurance proceeds enter the estate?.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position.
- Death of an RRSP annuitant — Canada Revenue Agency
- Death of a TFSA holder — Canada Revenue Agency
- What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency